Thursday, June 21, 2012

Ka-chow! A Lightning McQueen Birthday Cake

Our little Snuggles is five years old today! He requested a "Cars" themed cake, which I was extremely tempted to just order from the store, but I ended up deciding to give it a shot using this cake as inspiration. It is far from perfect, but I thought it turned out pretty good, especially considering that I was decorating it late last night (or should I say really early this morning) while juggling a cranky six month old. The birthday boy was super excited and absolutely LOVED his cake when he discovered it as soon as he woke up this morning. It was totally worth the extra effort, as usual!

His little best friend is here to celebrate with us, whose three older brothers will be coming over as well. Hubby will pick them up at golf camp, along with our big kids, in about an hour, so I better get back into the kitchen to finish up the rest of the goodies I am making to go along with the cake. I'm sure I will be back with a more pictures! It's going to be another fun day!

16 comments:

You did a GREAT job, Jessica!! Cakes are soooo much work. But something your kids will always remember! Happy Birthday to Snuggles. (I can't believe he's 5! It seems like just yesterday he was sitting in a bouncy chair. Have I really been reading your blog that long?)

I know!! I started this blog the month before Snuggles was born... It's hard to believe that I've been blogging for 5 years too! I suppose it is time to rethink a few of the "nick-names" I choose back then for the kids. It probably won't be long before he completely outgrows the name "Snuggles!" :)

Beautiful job on your cake!! Looks like just the thing a 5yo boy would LOVE!LOL, I tried my hand at cake decorating for the first time this year (for my kids b-days) and discovered it isn't as easy as it looks! ;)Enjoying your blog! Many blessings to you & your family! :)

Usually when I am going to be doing this much decorating to a cake I just use box mixes. This one is made with two mixes. The bottom two cakes are made with a Triple Chocolate Cake Mix (birthday boy's choice) and the top two cakes are made with my favorite dairy/gluten free cake mix (since I am still trying to avoid dairy) I also made it with coconut oil instead of canola oil. My favorite homemade chocolate cake is the Sour-Cream Chocolate Cake from Smitten Kitchen. YUM!!!

Yeah, baking a cake from scratch can be really time consuming all by itself, although for some reason I feel like a failure if I don't bake from scratch. Knowing that you're not opposed to saving time with box mixes will make me feel better about it ;) Can't wait to give the homemade cake a try!

Tell him Happy Birthday! What a lot of work and love went into that cake! Did you know that you can smooth out your frosting by using a low heat setting on your hair dryer? That paper towel method sounds too time consuming for so early in the morning! Can't wait to see more pictures!

I ended up giving up on the paper towel idea, and I actually did have the frosting really smooth at one point. However, I decided I didn't like where I had placed the stars, and really messed up the frosting trying to move them.

My other problem was that the top cake was much denser than the bottom cake and started sinking into it overnight. These pictures were taken in the morning, since the lighting was better, and you can sort of see the frosting bulging on the bottom cake around the middle. Next time, if i combine two cake types, I need to make sure to put the heavier cake on the bottom.

Jessica, you do such a fab job caring for your family, this cake is totally fab! Thanks to you, I've planned to do Summer Bingo for my two and your Lego themed party idea came in very useful when Benedict turned nine just over a week ago.

As always thank you for sharing, your blog is a wealth of very useful and inspring information.

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Our Family

A Little About Me

Hi! I'm Jessica, a Roman Catholic wife and home educating mother to our eight children. I was home educated myself, along with my eleven younger siblings. I have a special devotion to St. Therese, through whom I have been given much help and many blessings--the beautiful "Shower of Roses" that she has sent my way! Here I will record a few of the blessings I treasure. Please remember that what you see here is just a little glimpse at our lives, so please say a prayer for us, as we continue to strive for holiness.

Prayer of Mothers

Father in heaven, grant me the grace to appreciate the dignity which you have conferred on me. Let me realize that not even the Angels have been blessed with such a privilege—to share in your creative miracle and bring new Saints to heaven. Make me a good mother to all my children after the example of Mary, the Mother of your Son. Through the intercession of Jesus and Mary I ask your continued blessings on my family. Let us all be dedicated to your service on earth and attain the eternal happiness of your kingdom in heaven. Amen.